Meggie's True Heart
by J.E. Rose
Summary: Meggie Folchart is now learning her story and what it will turn into with Doria as her furture husband.
1. Chapter 1

Meggie's True Heart

It was another day and another hour that was spent thinking about him. Doria was now more than just a curious warrior and strong and courageous hero. He was my future and it will always be that way. It was written by fate herself amidst the leaves of time and on the pages of my heart. I am Meggie Folchart and I know my true heart.

The warm summer breeze fluttered by as the fairies swirled around in the trees above.

It was a hard day. It would be a difficult day to live through. My little brother and Resa were flying again, and Mo was curing the books for the newly married Violante and the Black Prince, who, with the help of Balbulus, were trying to restore some old books that had once belonged to Violante's mother.

And Doria was nowhere to be found. I wanted to always know where he was at now. It was like some constant worry that filled my heart with dread and kept it longing for the sight of its keeper again. Ever since Farid left, I knew that my love for him was a true love and it was my first, but it was a love for him that could be thought over and could be placed aside, changed into a sisterly and friendly love.

Doria, on the other hand, he was forever a riddle and I knew that my heart would continue to beat, chaotically, a tune that only his heart could respond to.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter two-Remembering

It was twilight and the rain swirled through her hair as she waited and worried. Thinking about him reminded her of the past.

Elinor Loredan became the wife of Fenoglio on a breezy and cool day, with all of the glass men and the fairies and all of their favorite people. It was a year ago and the sun shown down upon the perfect couple. Everyone was happy. Everyone was sure of their future-everyone except Meggie.

It was warm in the evening. Farid kept casting sheepish grins my way and playing with special fire roses for Brianna. They were together: united in their love for Dustfinger. I loved Farid still, but it was a tremulous spark that cast only a faint gleam of light upon my heart. And Brianna needed him more than I did because I already had someone that held me in their heart.

Doria was, of course, at the wedding. Elinor still had the conviction that Doria was someone of noble birth and was therefore royalty. She also knew that I couldn't stand being away from him. I was too glad to see him, as always. Strong Man and Doria had walked into the clearing and then the wedding began. Doria seemed more reserved than usual during and after the festivities.

He came to visit almost every day before the wedding. Some days it was a little quiet, just calm and relaxing and others, I would become embarrassed as we read together. I taught Doria how to read a couple weeks after Mo was free from death and the Adderhead. He liked the books that Elinor and Darius had brought back from our world. He especially enjoyed reading Pride and Prejudice, which made some of the days…and nights …more than a little bit….interesting… and impossibly full of the love that we felt for each other.

I always knew what he would be like whenever I met him in the street or at the home that Mo and Resa and my brother lived in. Doria had a perpetual happiness, exuberance, and restfulness that made me feel _safe_ and_ protected._ He would never stop being my only comfort, my only soul mate and the only one would understand me. Mo is my father and the one that I love most of all. It is different from when I was little, though. I still depend on Mo, but can I ever be away from my devoted father? Can I leave Mo? And what would it be like?

I never thought that I would have to face such decisions, but I knew that it would have to be dealt with. For now, I would enjoy the wedding and the trilling of the birds and the family that surrounds me. I would enjoy the fact that I had a mother and a Mo and a brother, who was so similar to Resa that I could not help but be entranced by him and his powerful gift of flight. My brother, with his father's hair and eyes and Resa's personality, was a unique person of the Inkworld.

It was late in the night when Dustfinger led me to Doria. At first I thought that there was something terribly wrong. Only later would I realize that it would portend the future and my fate.


	3. Chapter 3

Doria's Confession

I stood quietly in the shadows of the trees, as Dustfinger slipped silently from my side and returned home. I saw Meggie standing in front of me-curiosity and love written on her face. She seemed to question me and what I was about to do. Her blue eyes sparkled and her chin jutted out as she hid her eyes, blushing crimson and trembling.

I knew that once we were together, I had to confess my love for her and that is why I had asked Darius to read Mr. Darcy out of _Pride and Prejudice. _Of course, he did, and I remember the way that Darcy, tall and imposing, turned to acknowledge me and asked why he was in this new and different world. I told him that I was sure of my future, but I wanted to know how to propose to Meggie. He smiled, and calming explained the secret love and how to express your own love by using the words of your heart.

I grinned in the gloom and I could see Meggie turn away, but her mouth was turned up in a slight smile. I took a step forward and then knelt down at her feet and taking her hand, which was warm and…comforting, I proposed.

"Meggie Folchart, the love that I have for you cannot be conquered by friendship. I cannot go on without having you in my life, without having you as my one and only love, without having you by my side and a part of me forever."

I paused as she just stared at me, so I stood up and pulled her to me. I wrapped my arms around her and she pressed her head to my shoulder. We were so close that I could feel her heart beat against my chest, making me shake and tremble. I knew what I had to do and I knew that I wanted to be here, with her, forever.

"You are who you are, but I love you and I never wish to leave your side. It is too painful to consider a lifetime without you, so I must ask you again, Meggie, to please come to me as my soul mate and as my love, to not keep me in this purgatory, but to lift me from my burden and promise to love me eternally, as I always will."

I kissed her hair, her cheek until she looked up and her eyes were blue splashed with transparent tears. She gasped as she sobbed and pulled away from me. Her hands covered her lips as she said over and over, "Wait, Doria, just wait." Each time she said that she took a step back and then she ran.

"Meggie!" I cried out as my own heart faltered. I loved her and I knew that we were going to be husband and wife, but I couldn't wait! I knew that I had to, though, it was the only way.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4-Doria

It was tranquil in the darkness, but the noises everywhere, that she had gotten so used to, seemed even more menacing than when she first came here, especially since the rain had stopped now. She knew what the difference was. Doria was not here, to take her hand. She remembered the profession of his love on that one night, and felt a twinge of despair and longing. Her heart needed him.

As she thought that, something appeared out of the bushes straight across from her. Or was it someone…She gasped as this shape hurtled, as if chased toward her. The moon threw its white glimmer against its features and she cried out: "DORIA!!"

He twisted and writhed a few feet away from her and then fell to his knees. He looked into her eyes, and she could see tears in his, flowing over and he clutched his chest as blood ran through his fingers and flowed into the form of a ring on his left hand. He gasped, muttered her name once and then he just…disappeared as soon as he appeared.

It was too much!!! She ran to where his body was just a second ago and knelt down to touch the indentations that his own knees had made, but they were gone, as if he was never there. Fear and loss trickled into her heart as she pressed her face to the grass and lay there, trying to remember and keep remembering who Doria was.

She was crying and her heart felt so lost… and then she felt a gentle voice calling her name, felt safe and secure in someone's arms, just as she used to be held when she was little, by Mo. But this time, it was different and there was a different kind of love in her heart as she felt without opening her eyes, the joyful presence that made her heart leap and yet be content at the same time.

She opened her eyes. She was leaning against Doria. He was safe, he was alive!!! HE WAS ALIVE!!!

"Doria, I am so sorry about before. I do love you and I always will." She hated to sound cliché, but that was how she felt and that is what she told Doria.

He sighed, smiled and then said, "Well, let us seal it with a kiss."

And before I could do anything, his lips were on mine and we slipped into our blissful reunion, our blissful future, and I had discovered my true heart residing in my breast and in Doria's heart.


End file.
